Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has been tasked with tackling wildfires. Babak Taghvaee examines how their role has grown as incidents increase
The Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Corps (IRGCASF) started to conduct aerial firefighting operations back in 2011 at the request of the Iranian Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization (FRWMO).
For this purpose, a firefighting package was designed and installed in the cargo hold of an Aerospace Force Ilyushin Il-76TD heavy transport aircraft.
IRGCASF has used its Mi-171 helicopters, equipped with Bambi Buckets, and Il-76TDs equipped with the firefighting kits, for tackling blazes at home, as well as in countries such as Georgia, Pakistan, Syria and Turkey.
Most of the wildfires in Iran are caused by people and are mostly sparked by farmers, hunters and speculators. In some cases, IRGC Ground Force has accidentally set the oak forests ablaze on the Iraq border during firing exercises. To combat the wildfires, local municipalities and county governors engage local foresters, firefighters and volunteers to help put out the flames.
However, once the fires have started to spread and grown out of control, the local Crisis Management Headquarters, as well as the I…
